This proposal is for a three year program of cross-cultural comparative research on the development of cooperation, altruism, and sociocentricity. The work will build on and extend a 13 month field study in the Cook Islands in which these variables were a major focus of interest. Traditional displays of cooperation and generosity in the islands, though declining with Westernization, are still in marked contrast to our own cultural norms. Systematic observations within naturalistic settings, formal interviews and psychometric tests with parents, teachers and children have provided data on both background learning and present situational factors relevant to contemporary variation in altruistic and cooperative behavior among Cook Islanders of all ages. During the proposed research comparative data will be collected from U.S. and New Zealand Caucasian subjects to document cultural contrasts in moral development between Western and non-Western groups. Polynesian subjects who have been residing in New Zealand for varying lengths of time will be tested as well. Several groups of children will also be retested in the Cook Islands to complement developmental inferences now being drawn from cross-sectional data. All laboratory testing will include systematic observation of interpersonal behavior within a controlled situation, in order to explore the role that social cues and social relationships may play in cooperative and altruistic behavior. Finally, a series of field experiments will be undertaken to assess which types of intervention techniques are most promising for increasing sociocentricity and cooperation within multi-ethnic classrooms.